True Tests: Revealed
by Fronk10
Summary: The third installment of the Eden Chronicles. Post-Thor, during the Avengers. Loki has returned to Earth and only one team can stop him - but with an addition in the form of Loki's lover and demigod daughter of Eos, Eden. How will they cope with facing each other on opposite sides? Will it all be too much for them to bare? Loki/OC
1. Prologue

**Hi guys! Thanks for opening the first chapter! This is the third part of the 'Eden Chronicles'. You don't need to have read those to understand this as it mainly takes part during the (absolutely AMAZING) film Avengers Assemble. But if you did choose to read those - specifically Norse Gods: Revealed - it would give you an insight to the Loki/OC relationship that features heavily in this story.**

**Thanks again! R&R!**

**Fronk x**

**_Disclaimer: Anything you recognise unfortunately isn't mine; except Eden, the OC, who totally is._  
**

* * *

Nick Fury POV

"_Director Fury," Agent Coulson said. "What do we do?"_

That had been yesterday, when Loki had come with his 'glorious purpose', destroying an entire S.H.I.E.L.D facility and stealing the Tesseract. Now Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D was in Long Island, New York, doing what had to be done. Whilst Coulson got to go to New York City and retrieve Mr Stark and Agent Romanoff was in India with Dr Banner, he was stuck recruiting teenagers to fight for our planet. He knew they were no ordinary teenagers, but still. It was sort of demeaning.

When he reached the top of the hill, he stopped. He'd been warned that he couldn't enter unless someone from the inside gave him permission. Apparently, a border patrol would be around at regular intervals and if he told them who he was, they'd let him in. Not that he thought he'd be all that hard to spot. How many tall black men with an eye patch and trench coat were there here at this Camp Half-Blood?

As promised, a patrol was coming into his line of sight at that very moment. There were five kids dressed in leather chest plates and brandishing bronze weapons, mainly swords. When they saw him they stopped and stared. He supposed he was dressed a bit strangely, even by their standards.

"Director Fury?" one of them asked when they were close enough. He looked about seventeen, with jet black hair, tanned skin and sea green eyes. He would make a suitable recruit, but Nick had the feeling he wasn't going to be that lucky.

"I am," he said, his voice stern and to the point.

"Then I, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, give you permission to enter Camp."

There was a slight shimmer in the air in front of Nick and he knew he could now go over the hill.

"If you'd follow me, Director, I'll take you to Chiron," Percy said, turning and walking down the hill. The rest of the patrol carried on without him.

A few minutes later they arrived at a large house, outside which an older man in a wheel chair, some washed up hobo in a tracksuit and a very nervous looking shirtless man with horns and a goatee sat playing what looked like pinochle. Percy went up and whispered something in the ear of the man in the wheelchair, who I assumed was Chiron, who then turned to face me.

"Ah, Director Fury," he said, smiling. "I am Chiron. These here are my partners, Mr D and Grover Underwood." I nodded at each in turn. "If you'd follow me inside?"

"Does that mean the game's over, then?" Grover asked, his eyes darting around.

Chiron smiled warmly at him. "Yes, Mr Underwood, it does. Maybe you'd like to accompany Mr Jackson to get our recruit?"

"Yes sir!" he exclaimed leaping up and over the table to join Percy. Only then did Nick notice that he had goat's legs. _'So, this is a satyr,'_ Nick thought, not nearly as surprised as he thought he'd be.

Fury followed Chiron inside. The house was homey, if a little over furnished. There was such an odd array of furniture in the room that Nick didn't quite know where to put himself. He decided on the sofa chair across the coffee table from Chiron.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood," Chiron said. "I hope the demigod we've selected for your… Avengers Initiative will suffice?"

"Any demigod is a great help to our efforts," Nick said. "Thank you again for agreeing to help."

"We are happy to," Chiron said. "After all, we too inhabit this planet, and so strive to keep it safe for all walks of life to enjoy. What exactly is this threat you're recruiting against, again?" he asked.

"I'd rather wait with the briefing for when the recruit gets here," Nick said. "I don't like repeating myself."

"Of course," Chiron said, smiling faintly.

We sat in silence for a few moments. Just as he was about to ask about the leopard on the fireplace that seemed to be looking right at him, there was a knock on the door. Chiron told the person to come in. A tall, well-built girl of about eighteen peaked in. Her skin was slightly tanned, as if she'd only just started being exposed to the sun. She had blonde hair and green eyes. Even from where he was sat he could see the flecks of gold within them.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked, her accent British.

Chiron nodded. "This is Director Nick Fury," he said. "The man from S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Oh," she said, coming in. She held her hand out to him. "Eden Lee Llewellyn. Nice to meet you, sir."


	2. Recruitment

Eden's POV

_A little earlier…_

Just as I was getting ready to head out to my first class of my summer term at Camp, there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Percy and Grover standing there.

"Hey guys," I said, coming out to join them. "What's up?"

"That Director Fury guy's here," Percy said. "Chiron wants you up at the Big House right away."

Oh. So today was that day, huh? I'd heard about this S.H.I.E.L.D before, but noting good. I hoped the facility had changed a lot since those reports came out. I was recruited because of my history of 'good relations with outside organisations'. (That was a quote from the letter I received from an 'Agent Coulson' about four months ago. Who knew secret organisations still sent letters? You'd think it'd be all electronic and e-mail by now. And wasn't that extremely dangerous? Mail could easily be tampered with!). They wanted a demigod to be on call for them in case anything turned up and got out to the public eye that they couldn't contain/deal with. Basically I was someone _else's _lackey for a change.

"You need us to walk up with you?" Grover asked, his brown eyes filled with concern.

"No, thank you Grover. I'll be fine." I put on my best smile and walked in the direction of the Big House. There wasn't anything particularly different about it from the inside, so the spy must not have had the explosive entrance I expected. Shame. The only real difference was that no one was outside on the patio playing pinochle. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I went inside.

I could hear talking from the sitting room, so I headed there. Gently, when there was a moment of silence. I knocked on the door. When Chiron said to come in, I pushed open the door. The first thing – or should I say person – I noticed was the man I assumed to be Nick Fury. He was a tall, stern looking man with an eye patch covering his left eye. I wasn't even going to ask how he got that. He was wearing a black trench coat with a black turtle neck and black trousers on. Having to dress to blend in with the shadows was probably a spy thing. I could see the guns on his person sticking out from underneath his clothing. You'd think a spy – _the _spy, I guess – would be better at hiding them than that. Or maybe he was doing on purpose, a statement.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked, trying my best not to sound timid.

Chiron nodded. "This is Director Nick Fury," he said. "The man from S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Oh," I said, coming in. Why had I said that? Very eloquent, Llewellyn. I held my hand out to him. "Eden Lee Llewellyn. Nice to meet you, sir."

He took my hand. "Likewise, Miss Llewellyn," he said. His voice was low, a no nonsense tone.

"If you'd take a seat, Eden," Chiron said, gesturing to the sofa. I sat. "Now, Director Fury, you were just about to tell us what you needed Eden for?"

He sat up a little straighter. "Yes. I am calling you to join the Avengers Initiative. That is a group of super beings brought together to fight the battles we never could. This particular battle involves a being we have identified as Loki, whom I believe you are familiar with?"

Familiar with? I'm in love with him! I didn't say that though: I just nodded, absentmindedly fingering the charm Loki had given me on Asgard which hung from my Camp necklace, trying to mask my emotion.

Fury continued. "He arrived last night abducting several of my men, including a scientist names Erik Selvig. He also stole a very powerful artifact named the Tesseract. With it he has the power to accomplish whatever he has come here to do, which we don't think involves world peace.

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it," he said, while I tried not to laugh, "Is to aid the Avengers in securing the Tesseract and stop Loki from doing whatever he has planned. Will you help us?"

"Who are the other Avengers?" I asked.

Fury took a small device out of his pocket and set it on the coffee table. A moment later several blue holograms appeared at various points around the room. Fury stood by each one and explained who they were.

The first screen was a man with dark hair, tanned skin and round glasses.

"This is Dr. Bruce Banner," he said. "A leading scientist in gamma radiation. A few years ago an experiment of his went wrong and he turned himself into this." He tapped the screen and a picture of a giant green man came up, smashing cars and looking really angry. "This refers to itself as the Incredible Hulk. He takes over Dr Banner's body when the doctor gets... angry. Even though we are only calling him in the help search for the Tesseract, do try not to annoy him."

The next screen was of a man with blue eyes, blonde hair and wearing a blue and red outfit, which looked suspiciously like the American Flag.

"This is Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America. He was recently recovered from being frozen since the 1940's - World War II, more specifically. He was injected with a serum that tuned him into what was known as a 'super soldier'. That was the serum Dr Banner was trying to recreate. It was also during that time that the Tesseract first appeared in the world. He is still adjusting to modern life, but will hopefully agree to help us. You'll be accompanying me to recruit him when we're done here."

Next was a woman with short red hair and a serious expression. She was throwing a hand grenade at something off screen.

"This is Agent Natasha Romanoff, code name Black Widow. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D, and is one of our top assassins and interrogators."

The final screen was of a man with black hair, a neatly trimmed beard and a smug expression on his face. I couldn't quite size him up.

"This is Tony Stark, more famously known as Iron Man. He built his suit and uses it to fight crime in the city of New York. Being so close to it, I'm sure you've heard of him." I nodded. "Stark is a wildcard, however, a consultant really, and I have no qualms taking him off the team should he get in anyone's way."

I kept that in mind.

"Anything else?" he asked, the holograms disappearing. I glanced at Chiron, who nodded encouragingly.

"When do I start?"

* * *

After I'd packed and said goodbye to everyone, I followed Fury over the hill to the car waiting for us. I had all the weapon's that I thought I'd need – swords, daggers, and a few things that the Stroll twins had assured me would come in handy. We travelled in silence for a few moments.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Captain Rodgers has an apartment in Brooklyn, courtesy of S.H.I.E.L.D," Fury said. "As I said before, you'll be there the recruit him with me. Or, if you'd prefer, you can wait in the car." I said I'd like to go with him. Fury continued. "Then to S.H.I.E.L.D's Helicarrier. You'll be flying with Agent Coulson, as I have other things to attend to in the meantime. You're not one of the demigods who have a problem with flying, are you?"

Well, I had to give him credit; at least he'd done his homework.

"No, I'm totally okay with flying," I said.

He nodded. "That's good. On the Helicarrier you'll meet the rest of the team. You were supposed to have an additional member, but he's been compromised by Loki."

"One of the kidnapped ones?" I asked, concerned.

"Yes," Fury said. "His name is Clint Barton, code name Hawkeye. He too is an assassin for S.H.I.E.L.D, specialising in archery. Loki has a scepter that seems to be able to control people's minds. That is how he was able to take so many at once." Fury sighed, rubbing his hands over his face.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Fine," he said. "Just under a lot of stress."

"Being told what to do by people who don't know how to do it?" I asked, recognising that look.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked, smirking slightly.

"I just know the feeling, that's all," I said, smiling.

Then Fury's phone rang. "Excuse me," he said, taking the call.

I sat back and watched the scenery roll by. I was going away from everything I'd ever known, plunging head first into yet another thing I had no idea how to deal with. The Avengers looked like nothing I'd ever experienced before, let alone worked with. Even though I followed orders, I questioned them if I didn't agree with them. I wondered how S.H.I.E.L.D tolerated that sort of thing.

Oh, boy, what had I gotten myself into?


	3. Captain America

**A/N: So here is where you'll probably start recognising things from the film. Thanks for the all the support so far, it's really appreciated. R&R!**

* * *

Fury led me down into the basement of a block of flats in the Brooklyn area. As Olympus was based in Manhattan, I hadn't had much of a chance to explore New York as a whole on my short visits here. That, and being told not to go into Brooklyn under any circumstances. There hadn't been any angry thunder, so I supposed I was okay, just this once. I still don't know why that is…

In the basement of the buildings, there was a gym. The room itself looked kind of run down; pale paint peeling off the walls, cracks running through them. It was a far cry from the training arenas and amphitheatres I was used to at Camp.

The room was littered with various training equipment. There was a boxing ring dominating the room, with boxing gloves and punching bags dotted all over. It was at one of these punching bags that the man I assumed to be Captain Steve Rodgers was stood, punching a bag as if he had a personal grudge against it. He was fighting bare knuckle too, with only a few bandages to protect his hands. Hard core.

Suddenly, the tempo of his punches increased until the bag went sailing across the room, sand spilling ever where. He stood back a little, looking at his work for a moment. Still breathing heavily, he leant over and picked up another one and put it on the hook. He was just about to start punching it again when Fury called out to him.

"Trouble sleeping?" he asked, stepping into the room.

Captain took a step back, steadying the bag. Now he was away from it, I could see him more clearly. He was in a once white t-shirt and brown slacks. His skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat; understandable, really. His blonde hair and blue eyes stood out against his tanned skin, giving him the complete 1940's look.

"I slept for 70 years, sir," he said, going back to the punching bag. "I think I've had my fill."

"Then you should be out, celebrating," Fury pushed, going into the room a little more. I stood a little bit behind him, "Seeing the world."

Steve paused for a moment and looked at Fury. His gaze darted to me. I smiled politely. He turned away from us both to a little table by the punching bag where a gym bag was. He began unwrapping his hands.

"When I went under," he began. "The world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."

"We've made some mistakes along the way," Fury allowed. "Some very recently."

Steve seemed to twig on. "You here with a mission for me, sir?" he asked, beginning on his other hand.

"I am," Fury said.

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

"Trying to save it," Fury said, handing him a file. I stepped in closer.

Steve took the file and looked at its contents. I could see the word 'Tesseract' in bold letters with a picture of a blue luminous cube.

"H.Y.D.R.A's secret weapon…" Steve muttered.

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you," Fury explained. Wasn't that Tony Stark's father? "He thought what we think: the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

_'A secret weapon to be used for sustainable energy?' _I thought. _'What?'_

Steve closed the file and handed it back to Fury.

"Who took it from you?" he asked.

"He's called Loki," Fury said. Here we go again. "He's… not from around here."

He said that as if he were from Canada instead of America, not a whole other planet.

"There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in," Fury finished up. "The world has already gotten stranger than you even know."

"At this point I doubt anything would surprise me," he said dryly. I smirked a little.

"10 bucks says you're wrong," Fury bet. Steve didn't respond, instead picking up his bag and a punching bag. "There's a debriefing pack in your apartment," Fury called after him. "Miss Llewellyn, a future team mate of yours, will be accompanying you." Still Steve remained silent. "Anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" Fury asked.

"You should have left it in the ocean," Steve stated tersely, walking out. I glanced at Fury who motioned for me to follow him. I scurried out of the gym, keeping a safe distance away. Steve didn't seem a happy Cappy.

* * *

After I followed him up to his apartment and had been there for about thirty minutes, there was a knock on the door. Captain answered it and a man in a sharp suit came in, introducing himself as Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D.

"You sent me the letter," I said.

He nodded. "I did, ma'am. Glad to see you agreed to join us."

I shrugged. "Happy to help. I have to live in this world too, ya know?"

"I trust you've both read over the debriefing pack?" he said.

The pack in question was more like an iPad than an actual file, much to the Captain's dismay. I had to figure out how it worked first, but after a few minutes I had it up and running. On it were the Avenger's files (surprisingly enough there wasn't one on me, although really what would they have?), information on the Tesseract and a file about the incident at the research facility. I cringed a little reading that, knowing Loki had caused it. What the hell had happened to him?

I smirked. "I got it working for Cap, but we got there in the end."

"Good. If you're ready, there is a car outside waiting to take us to a Quinjet, and then to the Helicarrier, our base of operations. If you'll both follow me?"

We followed him out and into the car. There was a slightly awkward silence that no one quite knew how to break. I kept seeing Coulson glance over at Steve, kind of like a star struck teenager. Aw, how cute. When we arrived at the private air field owned by S.H.I.E.L.D, we got out of the car and were ushered towards an aircraft I was informed was called a 'Quinjet'. I don't know why, I didn't ask. It was all so military, I found it a little imposing.

We'd been in the air about twenty minutes when someone said it was forty minutes until we reached home base. I assumed that was the Helicarrier. The sooner we got there the better. Even though I wasn't one of the demigods that had an immediate problem with flying, I was still cautious about it. Zeus could be very temperamental.

Steve was sat next to me in the air craft, looking over the mission file again. I already knew all I needed to know.

"So this Dr Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" Steve asked.

"So says the file," I replied.

"A lot of people were," Coulson put in. "You were the world's first superhero."

Oh, so never mind Heracles, Jason (of 'the Argonauts') or Perceus then? Everyone forgets the old guys, the ones who had no super powers what so ever (except that they were demigods…). I didn't voice my opinion, though; Cap was already struggling with all this and I didn't want to come off a total bitch.

"Banner thought that gamma radiation was the key to unlocking Urskine's original formula," Coulson continued.

"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve said, looking at the footage of the Hulk destroying Harlem. I remember the gods had been pissed about that, although Ares thought it was brilliant.

"Not so much," Coulson agreed. "When he's not that thing though, he's like a regular Steven Hawkin."

I raised my eye brows in appreciation while the Captain looked bemused.

"He's like a, smart person," Coulson explained feebly.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"I gotta say," Coulson began, "It's an honour to meet you. Officially." Steve smiled happily up at the man. "I sort of met you. I mean, I watched you, while you were sleeping." There was a beat as him realised what he'd just said. "I mean, I was present. While you were unconscious. From the ice." he amended.

"If it makes any difference, I think it's cool to meet you too," I told him.

"Really?" he asked, surprised.

I nodded. "Totally. A friend of mine is a really big fan." One of the original ones, too, seeing as Nico was from around the time Captain America was first in the world. "I can definitely rub this in his face when I see him next."

Steve smirked. He got up and headed towards the cockpit to watch out the front window.

"I just hope I'm the man for the job," he said, almost to himself.

"Me, too," I said.

"Oh, you are," Coulson said enthusiastically. "Both of you." He turned hastily back to the Captain. I could tell I was going to be second place to this man all through the flight. "We made some design modifications to the uniform," he said. "I had a little design input."

"The uniform?" Steve asked. "Aren't the stars and stripes a little… old fashioned?"

"With what's about to come to light, I think people might just need a little old fashioned," Coulson said sombrely.

"Will I have to wear a uniform?" I asked him, the thought only just occurring to me. "Because I can tell you now I am not wearing spandex or lycra."

Agent Coulson smiled slightly. "No, ma'am, you don't have a uniform as such. Chiron informed us that you fight in armour. We figured you'd bring your own."

I tapped my bag slightly. "Good job I did then," I said, smiling.

"Secure for landing sequence," the pilot said.

The two men came and sat back down next to me, strapping themselves in. Now I knew it was going to get serious.


	4. The Helicarrier

We landed on the Helicarrier about five minutes later. It was a massive barge in the middle of nowhere, miles and miles away from the nearest land. There were a lot of army-type people running around, securing various helicopters and other things down to the deck of the Helicarrier. Steve, Coulson and I exited the Quinjet. I had to steady my footing slightly. I wasn't expecting something this far out to sea. It was a good job Poseidon and I got along _swimmingly_ or I'd be in _deep_ trouble. (_Sea _what I did there? With the nautical jokes? Oh, meh. My comic genius is wasted on you people.)

"Agent Romanoff," Coulson said to a red headed woman who approached us, "This is Captain Rodgers."

Steve nodded to her. "Ma'am," he said.

"Hi," she said, sounding a little bored. "They need you on the bridge," she said to Coulson.

"I'll see you there," he said, leaving us with Agent Romanoff.

"I'm Eden Llewellyn, by the way," I said, introducing myself to her.

She walked off as if I hadn't spoken.

"There was quite a buzz around here," she said to the Captain, "Finding you in the ice. Thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?" Steve asked with a bemused smile.

"They're vintage. He's very proud," she said, smirking slightly. I decided I quite liked her, even if she had ignored me. Like everyone else. I figured it was because I'm a teenager. Or English. Definitely one or the other. Maybe both?

It was then I noticed a very jittery looking man stood by another Quinjet. He was wearing a grey suit with a button down purple shirt underneath. His skin was quite tanned, as if he'd just come from a very hot country. He jerked away from anyone who came to close. When he faced us, I recognised him as Dr Bruce Banner.

"Dr Banner," Steve called to him. He walked over to us.

"Oh, yeah. Hi," he said, shaking Steve's hand. "They told me you'd be coming."

"Word is you can find the cube," Steve said.

Bruce looked around nervously, grasping his hands. "Is that the only word on me?" He seemed... disappointed, almost.

"Only word I care about," I muttered, getting kind of annoyed with being ignored by everyone.

Bruce looked over Steve's shoulder at me. He leant around him to shake my hand.

"Thanks. Good to meet you, Miss…?" he asked.

"Llewellyn," I said, shaking his hand and smiling broadly. Finally, someone who showed an interest that I actually existed. "Eden Lee Llewellyn. It's nice to meet you, Dr Banner. My friend is quite the admirer of yours."

His brow creased. "Really?"

"You might want to step inside in a minute," Agent Romanoff interrupted. "It's gonna get a little hard to breathe."

Just then there was an almighty rumble as a siren wailed. Steve, Bruce and I looked at each other in confusion. The deck became a flurry of activity, with people tying things down and securing various aircrafts, even putting breathing apparatus on.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked.

Dr Banner smiled humourlessly. "Really, they want me is a submerged pressurised metal container?" Banner said, disbelievingly.

We ambled towards the edge of the carrier to take a closer look. If it did turn out to be a submarine, I'd probably fair better than if I was flying – Posiden was more inclined to make sure I survived an accident in the sea than Zeus was in the air. Then we felt the shudder rip through the ship as it lifted from the water. We saw the giant propellers come up from under the water. We backed away from the edge slightly.

_This thing flies! _I thought to myself, not knowing whether to be excited or scared.

"Oh no," Banner said. "This is much worse."

* * *

About fifteen minutes later Agent Romanoff – or Natasha, as she preferred to be called – took us to the ship's bridge. I'd never in a million years imagine myself on an invisible flying ship having a meeting for a secret government organisation about a rampant god with a bunch of super heroes. Even by my standards, it was a little hard to believe. Except the rampant god bit – that was completely plausible.

The bridge was alive with activity. Agents were sat at various screens, checking the Helicarrier's statistics and vitals. Steve walked in confidently, looking around in amazement. I suppose this was all very new for him. Dr Banner looked around nervously. Contrastingly, I supposed this was all very familiar to him, or more the Hulk. I decided I'd protect the Doctor. He was a good man and didn't deserve all the shit that had happened to him in his lifetime.

Nick Fury turned from the helm to face us.

"Gentlemen, Eden," he said in greeting, coming over to us. Steve dug in his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill. From the smug look on Fury's face, he knew he'd win that bet.

"Dr Banner," Nick said, offering his hand. "Thank you for coming."

After a beat Bruce shook his hand. "Thanks for asking nicely," he said. "So, urm, how long am I staying?"

"Once we have our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear."

Bruce nodded. "Where are you with that?"

"We're sweeping every accessible camera on the planet," Coulson answered. "Cell phones, laptops; if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

_'Much like how monsters track demigods,' _I thought dryly. _'Good to know the government can do the same thing. Makes me feel even safer and not at all uneasy...'_

"That's still not going to find them in time," Romanoff stated.

"We need to narrow the field," Bruce said. "How many spectrometers do you have access too?"

"How many are thee?" Fury countered.

Dr Banner turned to Agent Coulson. "Call every lab you know. Tell them to put their spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays," he said, taking off his suit jacket. Did they have one of those in the Athena cabin? Probably, knowing them. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we can rule out a few places. You have somewhere for me to work?" he finished, rolling up his sleeves.

"Agent Romanoff," Fury called. "Could you show Dr Banner to his laboratory, please?"

She nodded and came over.

"You're gonna love it Doc," she said, leading the way. "We've got all the toys."

I was tempted to follow, but decided I would be neither use nor ornament there. I let the good Doctor get on with his work in peace. I just stood back and watched the activity in the room. When I tried to wander around and peer over people's shoulders, no one objected. I did find a man near the back playing an old arcade game on his computer (Galaga, I think) but other than that nothing particularly interesting. That was, until I came across a screen with Loki's photo on it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Cross referencing the images of Loki we obtained from the CCTV of the mostly destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D research labs with all the cameras around the world," the agent replied. "As soon as Loki comes out into the open, we'll have a lock on him."

I nodded, swallowing slightly. I was both nervous and aching to see him again. Would he still be the same, or would he have changed so completely that I wouldn't recognise him? The few looping scratchy CCTV frames they had on the screen to reference from didn't look like the Loki I remembered: his eyes were sunken, his hair longer, his lips chapped and skin paler than usual. Only time would tell, I supposed.

Just then the screen started flashing red and beeping. The agent whirled around to Director Fury.

"Sir, we've got a hit. 67% match." Fury walked over to him. The agent turned back to his screen. "Wait: cross match 73%."

"Location?" Coulson asked.

"Stuttgart, Germany," the agent replied. Germany? "28 Konienstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."

There was a picture from a CCTV camera to the right of the screen, next to a map of the location. I had to catch my breath a little. After not seeing him for a whole year, his flawless skin and perfect face made my heart stutter more than it did usually when I saw him. Especially since he was wearing a close fitting suit that made him look particularly dashing. At least now he looked a lot more like his usual self. I took a moment to calm myself before turning expectantly to Fury.

"Captain?" he called. "You're up." Steve nodded and set off. "You too, Llewellyn. Suit up and meet the Captain and Agent Romanoff in the hanger in ten minutes."

I nodded and went off to where my bags had been dumped. I chose a secluded spot and strapped on my armour. The brown leather fit my frame like a glove. I could quite happily walk around it all the time if it didn't look so weird – after all these years of wearing it the weight felt like nothing to me. I secured my weapons in various places on my person and, once satisfied, made my way towards the hanger.

When there, I saw Steve and Natasha outside the Quinjet I assumed we'd be taking to Germany. Before I got there, Agent Coulson stopped me.

"I was kind of lying when I said you didn't have to wear a uniform," he said a little sheepishly. He handed me a small leather mask the same colour as my armour. It was only big enough to cover my eyes. "You don't have to wear it," he continued, "But we figured you might not want everyone knowing your identity."

I thanked him and put it on. It didn't hinder my sight at all, which I appreciated. He let me go and I went onto the Quinjet. In a few hours I'd be face to face with the man I love. In battle.

Not exactly the reunion I was hoping for.

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**A/N: Hi guys! So, Loki next chapter! Unfortunately, we now have Mock exams, so I have to revise like mad for them and might not be able to update regularly for a few weeks. If there is a big enough response, I may be persuaded to update early before exams actually start... R&R! Fronk x**


	5. Power Play

We flew during the night for a few hours before reaching Stuttgart. Just before we reached the main square there, the Quinjet dropped me and Cap off and we headed into the square on foot. The scene we saw shocked me to the very core. Loki, in his full armoured glory, was stood over a crowd of kneeling people.

"In the end," he said, his deep velvet voice sweeping over me, "You will always kneel."

An elderly man stood, a lone pillar in a crowd of sand.

"Not to men like you," he said, seeming sad more than defiant.

Loki smirked. "There are no men like me," he stated smugly.

"There are _always _men like you," the old man said, turning to look him in the eye.

"Look to you elder people," Loki said, raised his sceptre. It glowed a bright blue – the same blue as the Tesseract – as his expression soured. "Let him be an example."

As a bolt of light left the sceptre, Steve jumped in front of the man, raising his shield to protect the both of them. Because the bolt was light I managed to manipulate it a little so it didn't fry Steve on the spot. The shot bounced back and hit Loki square in the chest. I'm sure it is only because he is a god that he survived that blow. I hadn't weakened it that much.

But what the hell was that? 'Let him be an example'? Since when did Loki believe genocide was the answer to every problem? Never mind that; why the hell were we in Germany?

"You know," Steve said, walking towards Loki, "The last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

Loki looked up from the floor to look at Steve, his expression amused.

"The soldier," he recognised. Did he know of the Avengers? He laughed as he stood. "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time," Steve said.

The Quinjet came into view then, the gun coming out of the bottom of it.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down," Agent Romanoff's voice echoed around the square.

I saw what happened before it did. Loki fired a shot from his sceptre towards the Quinjet. Luckily Natasha managed to swerve out of the way in time. The shot caused the people to scatter, running for their lives. I stopped to help people get out as quick as possible as Steve began his assault. Loki managed to knock him to the ground a few times before placing his sceptre above his head, keeping him down.

"Kneel," he sneered.

There was a pause. "Not today," Steve said, knocking the sceptre off of his head and performing a round house kick to Loki's head. I saw the Quinjet come back around, lining up with Loki once again.

Then I got into the fray.

When Loki threw Steve across the square, I went up behind him and attacked his muscled back with my fists, hitting all his pressure points. He fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. He whirled around on me, his sceptre raised and eyes blazing in anger before he took in who I was.

"Eden?" he whispered, total confusion on his perfect face. I knew he'd be able to see right through my minimal mask.

Just then 'Shoot the Thrill' by AC/DC came blaring through the sound systems in the area. We all looked around in apprehension. I think I was the first to notice Iron Man flying through the sky. He raised his hands, which I'd seen from the news fired pulses from his palms. This is exactly what he did, sending Loki flying off to the other side of the square. I had to dive out of the way to avoid getting hit myself.

Iron Man landed and aimed all his weapons on Loki.

"Your move, reindeer games," he said.

Loki looked at all three of us a moment, before a light gleamed over him. I braced myself for an attack, but he raised his hands in surrender as his clothing changed, going from his armour to his more casual Asgardian attire.

"Good move," Iron Man said, his weapons folding back into his suit.

The Quinjet came to land behind us.

"Mr Stark," the Captain greeted.

"Captain," he nodded back. He turned to face me. "Beautiful," he greeted.

I saw Loki's lip curl in disgust and jealousy pass through his eyes, but he remained silent.

Agent Romanoff lowered the hanger door and we all got in. Stark and Steve went to strap themselves in on the other side of the Quinjet opposite Loki. I strapped him in, getting an odd look from Steve, before strapping myself in next to him, but a few seats down, for take-off. I spent the beginning of the flight fighting to either slap Loki or kiss him.

About twenty minutes later Natasha gave us the go ahead to unbuckle. I did so and was about to stand when Loki discreetly took my hand. I turned to him, worry visible in my eyes. What I was worried about, I wasn't entirely sure.

_'Unshackle me, my love'_, he said to my mind.

I nodded and unfastened the harness. He sat back, a lot more relaxed. His face stayed poker straight, however, not wanting to seem weak in front of his 'enemies'. Not trusting myself not to throw myself at him and kiss him senseless, I went over to stand by the others. I tried to ignore the flash of pain that streaked through Loki's eyes. Stark had removed his helmet and was stood talking to Steve.

"So, beautiful," he said to me. "You got a name?"

"I'm Eden," I said. "I'm fairly sure my folks volunteered me for this, but I'm not totally sure about that."

"You get forced into it too?" he asked, sympathy on his face.

"I could be in Long Island with my family right now, not flying over Europe after a fight with a god in Germany," I said. I could be fighting with any number of other gods in other parts of the world, but I didn't mention that bit.

"I'm Tony Stark, just in case you've been living in a cave for all your life," he said, offering his hand. I shook it firmly.

"I don't like it," Steve said in a hushed tone.

"What?" Tony asked. "Rock of Ages giving up so easy?"

"I never remember it being that easy," Steve replied hastily. He glanced nervously back at Loki. "This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow." Stark gave Steve the once over. "What's you thing? Pilates?"

I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to face palm my head.

"What?" Steve asked, bemused.

"You probably missed a few things," Stark allowed, "Doing time as a… Capsicle."

I sighed heavily. Somehow I had the feeling that a lot of friction happening between these two. If there was one thing I knew about Tony Stark, it was that he was as bad as Loki for winding people up and getting into bother. Perhaps in another time, the two could have been good friends.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in," Steve said eventually.

"There's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," Tony quipped.

"I knew," I interjected. "About Stark, that is."

"Well, at least one of us is in the know…" Steve muttered.

Suddenly lightning crashed across the sky.

"Where's this coming from?" I heard Natasha mumble.

I glanced to Loki, who was looked worried.

_'I thought I was cleared for flying'_, I thought to myself. What was Zeus playing at?

Loki spoke to my mind once more. _'It is not from your side of the family, love'_, he thought.

_Who then?_ I wondered.

"What's a matter?" Steve asked Loki. "Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," he replied dryly.

Then it clicked.

Thor.

I was just about to tell everyone when there were a few more cracks of thunder before a loud thud on the roof of Quinjet. We all steadied ourselves and glanced towards the roof of the jet. With the extra weight the jet swung from side to side. I grabbed on for dear life. Tony grabbed his helmet and put it back on and opened the hanger doors. What the hell was he doing?

A moment later, Thor appeared in the opening. And man, did he look pissed. He came in and smacked Tony smack on the chest, sending him back into the Quinjet. He grabbed Loki by the front of his tunic and hoisted him up. Swinging his hammer, they flew out the back of the jet into the dark night, his cape billowing behind him.

Tony stood up with a sigh.

"And now there's that guy," he said, making his way towards the exit.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked.

"Thor," I answered.

"That guy a friendly?" Steve asked.

"Yes," I insisted.

"Doesn't matter," Stark said. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!" the Captain called.

"I have a plan," he said, "Attack."

With that he flew straight out of the jet after the Asgardians.

Coming to a decision, I walked towards the exit. I could see Steve putting on a parachute.

"I'd sit this one out guys," Natasha advised. "These guys come from legend; they're basically gods."

"I deal with gods every day, Natasha," I said. "I've survived gods far more angry and with much more murderous intent that those two: Thor and Loki are nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"And as far as I'm concerned, there's only one God, ma'am," Steve said firmly, "And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

On that note, I jumped out of the plane.

* * *

**So the Asgardians finally made an appearance! Thank you for your support with this story - 11 followers! That's awesome. R&R! Fronk x**


	6. Up on the Mountain

**A/N: Just a quick thank you to all the followers/favouriters and reviews! It always means a lot! Fronk x**

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I sailed through the thunder clouds, free falling faster and faster towards the ground. I centred my thoughts and focused on where Loki was. Closing my eyes, I sped myself up to the speed of light. Yet another one of the perks of being Dawn's daughter. In no time at all, I was beside the two brothers, stopping just short of going face first into the side of the mountain.

"You think yourself above them?" Thor asked Loki.

"Well… yes," Loki said, as if it were obvious.

Charming.

Thor smiled mirthlessly. "Then you miss the truth of ruling brother," he said. "The throne would suit you ill."

Loki slammed his fist into Thor's chest and shoved past him, snarling. I chose that moment to stand by the rock they were arguing by, visible if anyone was paying attention.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about," Loki ranted. "I have grown, _Odinson_, in my exile," he sneered, "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it -"

"Who showed you this power?" Thor interrupted, frowning. "Who controls the would be king?"

"I AM A KING!" he screeched.

Oh, Loki...

"Not here!" Thor boomed, clutching his shoulders. "You give up the Tesseract, you give up this poisonous dream." He clasped Loki around his neck. "You come home," he said, softer.

Loki laughed once. "I don't have it," he said, shaking his head. Thor thrust his hand behind him and Mjolnir shot into it. He raised it to strike Loki. "You need the Tesseract to take me home," Loki realised, "But I have sent it off I know not where."

"You listen well, brother," Thor said, pointing his hammer at him. He may very well have finished his sentence if Stark hadn't flown into him and knocking him off the cliff.

"I'm listening," Loki said, smiling to himself.

He turned and crouched on his haunches, watching the battle unfold before him in a clearing in the woods below. I walked over to him, not even bothering to hide my arrival.

"Loki," I said softly.

He turned around slowly, a look of shame on his face. Too right.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded of him, equal parts pain and anger in my voice.

Loki came and stood in front of me. In our time apart, I'd forgotten how very tall he was – and I wasn't exactly a munchkin myself. He pulled me quickly into his arms. I went more than willingly.

I had longed so much to see him again: to feel his skin, smell his musky scent, revel in all that was Loki. In our time apart mostly my every thought had been plagued by him: waking and dreaming visions of our time together. Never had I imagined our reunion to be on the evening he had made his power play on an innocent group of bystanders in Germany.

"I need this, Eden," he said after a moment, stroking my hair gently, "To prove myself."

"Prove yourself to whom?" I asked him, trying so hard not to cry - from rage or sadness I wasn't too sure. "To Thor? Your father? Me?"

He slumped against me. "To everyone who ever doubted me," he said, a hint of venom in his voice.

"Since when have you given a toss about what anyone else thinks?" I demanded. "What happened to my Loki, the one who laughed off everyone's jibes with a simple prank?"

"He found out the truth," he said darkly.

I frowned and pulled out of his embrace. "The truth?"

Loki looked down at me with worry in his eyes. "I do not wish to speak of it now," he said. "I just wish to be with you."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," I said.

He cupped my face gently and leaned in slowly, giving me time to pull away. I probably would have kissed him if I hadn't seen Captain America falling from the sky just behind us. I pulled away from him swiftly. His face furrowed, pain clear on his face.

"Team mate," I said, pointing at Cap. "Can't be seen fraternising with the enemy."

"Is that what you see me as, my Eden?" he asked, wounded. "The enemy?"

"Not me personally, Loki, never think that," I said, "But you are trying to take over my planet. You're very quickly making an enemy of a lot of people."

There was a sudden boom and several trees collapsed.

I closed my eyes, sighing heavily. "I have to go. They'll end up killing each other soon enough, and good ol' Captain America defiantly isn't strong enough to deal with the pair of them himself."

"Just don't get hurt," he said, kissing my forehead, "Or I may have to kill them."

"As if that would actually happen," I said, smirking slightly and kissed the corner of his mouth.

I headed down the mountain towards the site of the battle at the speed of light. It was something I'd perfected over the year. That was quite awkward when it first happened in P.E., running around the track with an 'inhumane speed', or so said my teacher. I had a word with my mum and she said it sometimes just happens. Apparently she couldn't have told me sooner. Forgot about it, more likely.

When I arrived at the battle scene, Tony had his hands up, one facing Thor and the other Steve. Thor had his hammer raised and a look of grim determination on his face. Steve was just lowering his shield.

"That's enough!" he called, hopping off the fallen tree he was standing on. "Now," he said, addressing Thor, "I don't know what you plan on doing here..."

"I have come here to put an end to Loki's schemes," Thor insisted.

"I believe that," I called out.

They all looked over to me. I calmly walked over to the group, smiling up at Thor.

"You are with these men, Lady Eden?" Thor asked me, seemingly shocked I was there.

I nodded. "I am," I said, "And we're all working for the same thing: to stop Loki from taking control of the Earth. Are you going to stand with us?"

"I shall," he said firmly.

"Then prove it," Steve said. "Put that hammer down."

And it was all going so well.

"Yeah, no," Tony warned, "Bad call. He loves his hamm-"

Thor swung his hammer back, sending Tony flying backwards through the clearing. A clearing I'm sure wasn't there before the fight began.

"You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor shouted.

Rightfully, Steve looked a little worried. I backed off a little, looking for what little cover I could find. I would have tried to stop him, honestly I would, but I think Steve needed to realise he wasn't always in control of the situation. Especially when dealing with a god with family issues.

Thor swung the hammer around at waist height before leaping across to Steve. Captain raised his shield up to protect himself. The contact between the unbreakable vibranium shield and the dwarven made hammer leveled the remaining trees, sending the two parties involved flying away from each other. Sighing, I went over to Tony to help him up. He thanked me and went to Steve while I went to Thor.

"Are we done here?" I asked them.


End file.
